Fuselage



June 16, 1925. 1,541,976l

A. K. LONGREN FUSELAGE Filed April l0, 1922 gigio Patented June 16, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.`

ALBIN K. LONGREN, OF TOPK, KANSAS.

FUsELAGE.

Application led April 10, 1922. Serial No. 551,054.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBIN K. LONGREN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Topeka, in the county of Shawnee and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fuselages; and ll do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableV others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of referdit@ ence marked'thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to the fuselage or body structure of an aeroplane and the primary object thereof is to construct a fuselage which Will be exceedingly light and yet possess considerable strength to not only protect the occupants but to resist the tendency to collapse in case of accident.

Extremely light bodies have been provided heretofore by arranging truss framesv and covering the same with fabric but the strength of such bodies has been sacrificed for lightness and in the case of accident, the longer-ons are liable to injure theoccupant of the aeroplane."

According to my invention extreme lightness is provided by .constructing the body of fibrous material, which may be molded into shape and which may7 be conveniently braced at intervals from the front to the rear. The body is preferably constructed of sections which may consist of fibroid or similar material, molded into shape and connected at their meeting edges by longrons or longitudinals which constitute longitudinal braces for the body structure and which also serve as rails to which the transverse braces preferably circular) are secured. n f

rlhe novel form of. my invention is illustrated in Athe accompanying drawings, in which lig. lis a side elevational view of an aeroplane constructed in accordance with my invention.

. Fig. 2 is a disassociated perspective view y of the meeting members and connecting longrons and t-ransverse lribs of the fuselage. lFig. /3 is a transverse sectional view through the assembled members of the fuselage, and

yFig. 4 is a sectional perspective Viewl of the meeting edges of the mating sections and one connecting longeron.

Referring now to the drawings by numerals of reference:

land 2 designate concave convex body members, which comprise symmetrical sides of the fuselage and are provided with aligning recessed portions 3 and t which, together, form the cock-pit opening for the fuselage.

'lhe side members 1 andj 2 are provided with upper complementary edges 5 and 6 and lower complementary edges 7 and 8 and these edges are connected together by the longrons 9 and 9.

Each longron may consist of a rib or ba having opposit-ely located slots l() and 1l into which the edges 5 an-d (S or T and 8, as the case may be, may be received, it being generallyy desirable to apply an adhesive either to the edges of the members l and 2 or in the" slots 10 and 11, after which the edges may be introduced into the slots as shown in detail in Fig. 4, and the edges,

may be additionally secured thereto by fastening devices 19. and 13, which may be driven into the bars 'or braces constituting the longrons and through the material so that a tight union will be made between the complementary edges of the members 1 and ,2. The fastening 'devices may consist of brads or nails, as shown, and the inner edge of each longeron or brace is preferably pro,-y vided with a longitudinal groove l-l for the v away as shown in Fig. 2 but the bottomlongron may extend from end to end of the fuselage.

'lthe longrons are connected by thesemicircular transverse braces 15 and 16, which may be fastened thereto in any appropriate manner; the two members 15 and 16, when v, secured to rthe longrons, constituting substantially circular brace members, the outer edges of which bear against the inner walls of the members 1 and 2 to which they may be secured by suitable fastening devices, for example, screws 17. Any appropriate number of transverse brace members may be secured from end to end and at the front l Bti -prefer to connect the longrons and the front edges of the members l and by a bulkhead 18, which may close in the front end of the fuselage. Said bulkhead is provided with a concentric opening 19, through which the magneto oil pump or other projection of themo'tor may project.

The construction illustrated afl'ords an et ticient durable and light form of fuselage, the sides, being preferably constructed of fibrous material, will have great resisting qualities and be reinforced by the longerons and transverse braces so that even in case of accident, the fuselage will, to a large measure, protect the occupant or occupants against injury.

The forni of body is shown as conforming to the stream line construction now generally considered to be the most appropriate form of body structure although obviously itfmay partake of other forms without departing from the essential features of my invention. I

lWhat l claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

'1. A fuselage comprising complementary concave-convex side members, longrons at the top and bottom of the fuselage` and interposed between the edges of said side members, each longron having oppositely disposed grooves in its sides to receive the opposite edges of the respective side members to stiifen same-and maintain the said edges in coincident planes, each longron having a longitudinal groove therein to lighten same, and means whereby to secure the edges of the side members 1n said grooves 1n the opposite sides of the longrons.

2. A fuselage comprising complementary concave-convex side members, longrons at the top and bottom of the fuselage, and interposed between the edges of said side members, each longron having oppositely disposed grooves in its sides to receive the opposite edges of the respective side members to stillfen sam-e and maintain the said edges in coincident planes, each longron having a longitudinal groove therein to lighten same, and fastenings piercing the longrons and the edges of the side members in planes on opposite sides of the said longitudinal grooves of the longrons.

3. A fuselage comprising complementanyv concavo-convex side members, longrons at the top and vbottom of the fuselage, and interposed between the edges of said side members, each longron having oppositelv disposed grooves in its sides to receive the opposite edges of the respective side members to stitl'en same and maintain the said ALBlN K. LONGREU. 

